Screen goes gray, wallpaper tiles, have to reboot--what causes?

Question

I had just installed a new graphics card when it started doing this, so I thought that must be the cause. Well, I replaced the graphics card, and it still does it.

Last time my computer started doing random things, it was the power supply. Could a too-weak power supply cause the screen to turn gray and the picture to s***w up?

If I click where the start button should be, sometimes I'll see it appear in the top-left. If I drag a rectangle around where the desktop icons should be, sometimes they appear. Sometimes it even snaps out of it and I can use the computer without restarting, but that's rare.

I'm about "this close" to doing a system restore just to see if it's a software problem.

Answer 1

Do you have Active Desktop turned on?  If it's on, turn it off from Display Properties.  Or even from rt-click, and uncheck "Display web content on my desktop."

Once you have the desktop back, look for the manufacturer's driver update online, and for the user manual for your new graphics card before trying to install it again.  You may find that your instinct is right:  you may need a more powerful power supply.  Or that you need to follow different directions to install the card than you followed the first time.  

Last resort is to call the manufacturer and try to get tech support for the card, if it's a recent one.  They may have a fix for you.